title: Polymorphonuclear elastase in neonatal sepsis.
abstract: Quantitative analysis of polymorphonuclear elastase was carried out in 135 newborn infants during the first 28 days of life. In 15 neonates with septicaemia, significantly increased PMN-elastase activity (range 75 to 700 micrograms/l: P less than 0.0001) was observed at the time of recognition of infection. Cut-off level 65 micrograms/l. Normalisation of the elastase activities was observed only under real recovery of the patients. It is concluded that plasma elastase determination serves as a sensitive indicator of systemic infection in neonatology, and as a good parameter for monitoring the course of the disease, because PMN-elastase correlates with the clinical condition of the patient.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Paediatric Endokrinology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsaka
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Herkner
mesh_terms: D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000201:enzymology*; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D010196:Pancreatic Elastase